disability law and stadium theater seating update

[Guest guest]

(for your information - to our new members, we have been following this

issue) ~ G

January 13, 2004 Los Angeles Times Justices May Weigh Theater Seating

The high court signals interest in an appeal on whether disability laws

bar stadium

venues.

The Supreme Court signaled interest Monday in an appeal by a Regal

Entertainment Group unit on whether a disability rights law bars movie

theater stadium-style seating that forces people in wheelchairs to sit

near the front row.

The court sought the presidential administration's views on whether the

court should hear the appeal.

Regal Cinemas, part of the world's largest movie theater chain, is

appealing a ruling it says will impose devastating costs on companies

that have built thousands of theaters in which most seats must be

reached by stairs. AMC Entertainment Inc. and Loews Cineplex

Entertainment Corp., the second- and third-largest U.S. chains, support

Regal's appeal.

Stadium-style theaters have tiered seating to allow a clear view of the

screen In the absence of ramps, patrons in wheelchairs usually must sit

in the front. Federal rules enacted under the Americans With

Disabilities Act require wheelchair areas to provide

" lines of sight " similar to those for other patrons.

A lower court ruling means thousands of movie theaters " must now be

destroyed or expensively retrofitted, " lawyers for Regal said in court

papers filed in

Washington.

The National Assn. of Theatre Owners said in a brief supporting Regal

that refitting movie theaters probably would cost hundreds of millions

of dollars. The brief by AMC and Loews said the government " stood by

silently " during the recent boom in building stadium-style theaters.